Worst Mom Award

Well, today I won the most coveted award out there...the Worst Mom Award.

Elias and I went to CVS to run an errand. Like every other baby out there, he loves playing with my keys, so to keep him entertained I let him play with them while I did my thing in the store. We got out to the car and I put him in the car seat. I took the keys from him so I could buckle him in and he started screaming. I have 2 or 3 different key rings on my carabiner, one of them being all those store cards. I took the store card one off and gave it to him to get him to calm down, and put my keys in the front seat so I could buckle him up. I shut the door, and then...sheer panic. My door wouldn't open. $#!%!!!!!!! He must have pressed the button after I had unlocked it but before I took them from him (about 5 seconds). Then I realized my phone was in the car too. GREAT. AND Kevin just recently lost our 2nd set of keys to my car. Perfect, right? So its not like Kevin could just bring them over. A lady was walking by and I asked to use her phone. I called 911 and was told an officer was on his way.

Elias was cool as a cucumber at this point, just chewing away on the key chain I gave him. He arrived within 5 minutes and placed a device similar to a blood pressure arm cuff that expanded into the crack between the door and car frame. He was able to get the long hanger-like thing in right away, pressed the unlock button, and...nothing. It didn't unlock! He then pushed the lock button to make sure he was pushing the right one, and the doors locked again. Then he tried to unlock it again...and nothing. Meanwhile Elias has started to freak out. Its getting hot in there, and all the banging and the big man at his window was really upsetting him. The officer tried the other door, and no luck...couldn't get the darn thing to unlock. Then he tried to lift up the lock, but it wouldn't budge. Then he tried getting the door handle open, but couldn't get enough behind it to open it. Meanwhile, a man stopped and offered to help. At this point, about a half hour had gone by and Elias is in hysterics. It was to the point where I was about to tell him to just break the freakin window. Then the man suggested trying to grab my keys with the thing they were using off the seat. And thank the LORD he was able to get them hooked. The man pulled the door back while the officer carefully maneuvered the keys up and through the tiny opening. I unlocked the door and grabbed Elias out of his seat. He's completely soaked from sweating so much from getting all worked up. I just held him while he calmed down, and the man who stopped to help came back over with a cold bottle of water he went in and bought for Elias. It was so nice and totally unexpected. Elias calmed down and of course wanted the entire bottle of water, but not from his sippy cup...straight from the bottle. So we sat in the car for a good 20 minutes while he took little sips one after the other. 

I feel like the worst mom ever. A lot of people stopped and watched the whole thing go down. I was so embarrassed.  I'm just glad hes okay and it was 80* here today and not 97 like last week. 

Needless to say, I'm glad the day is over...

Splash Splash Splash

To beat the heat a couple days ago, we took Elias to a cute little wadding pool at a local park. He looooves the water, and gets a kick out of all the kids that swim by and stop and say hi to him. 

Elias is now participating in a swim therapy class through his early intervention. Today was his first day, and considering the "stranger anxiety" thing just kicked into high gear last week, he did so well! The water therapy will help strengthen and develop his muscles. One exercise she did was having him sit on a mat (like the one below) that is unbalanced where he had to really work hard to sit up straight.

I just wanna say one thing: Early Intervention truly works. Don't hesitate to call them if you think you're child might need to be evaluated and needs some help. The earlier you get them involved, the better. Elias isn't the first family member I have thats been through Early Intervention. My sister Alexis went started Early Intervention at 3 years old, and I know for a fact that its because of Early Intervention that she's at the level she's at today. If it wasn't for that one on one instruction, therapy, love and support, she wouldn't be as independent and bright and as she is today. Don't wait to make those calls. It can only help. 

2 Years Down...

My kitchen was spotless today thanks to my superman husband. It was so clean that I was inspired to bake. Not sure how the too are connected, but I just HAD to bake some cookies. So I was on the hunt for a new chocolate chip recipe. I found one online that sounded delish and began gathering all my ingredients. This particular recipe calls for vanilla pudding, but I didn't have any in the pantry :( I ended up using chocolate fudge pudding instead. My cookies ended up being Chocolate Chocolate Chip, but MAN are they good! We'll being having cookies for breakfast, lunch, and dinner for the next week...I probably should have checked how many dozen it makes next time before I start...I already have 5 dozen cooling and I still have half the dough left to make tomorrow. I can't wait to make them with vanilla pudding next time. Just had to share a photo.

Kevin and I celebrated our 2 year anniversary on Monday. I stupidly scheduled 2 doctors appointments for Elias on our anniversary not realizing when I has scheduled them it was our anniversary...so we spent the majority of our special day with our son in doctors offices'. We have to chuckle, because when we got married our plan was to start trying for a baby when we hit our 2 year anniversary. Didn't think we'd have a 9 month old son! We wouldn't want it any other way :) 

Back to his doctors appointments. We met with the hand doctor to discuss how his thumb is doing. He wants to continue stretching it with a brace for a few more months. The x-rays he took showed that the bone isn't in the thumb correctly. We suggested surgery, but we expressed concern over whether he'd still be able to use it as much as he can now. He has adapted SO well to his thumb the way it currently is, and uses it to do everything he wants to do. The doctor said he doesn't know for sure what his range of motion would be, but thinks he wouldn't notice much of a difference. We're not too sure about it though. We think we want a second opinion. If he's using it fine the way it is right now, we're just not sure we want him to loose that. We have a few months to decide. 

Then it was off to the pediatrician for his 9-month checkup. He's a hefty 20lbs and 28inches. Here's some cute videos of him playing in the mirror while waiting for the doctor.

Pizza at the Park

Well, when we woke up this morning, we decided today would be dedicated to getting our apartment in order, cleaned, and unpacked.  Kevin let me sleep in, I did a little organizing in Elias' room, got him up from his nap, then saw how beautiful it was outside. I said nope, we're not spending this beautiful day inside. We'll do the housework later. So we headed to our favorite pizza shop (Little Italy in Beverly) and had a picnic at the beach. It was such a great time. Elias loves the grass, sitting in it and eating it.

Theres his first tooth!!! Others are close behind though!

I should mention that Elias had a fantastic check up at the orthopedists' yesterday. He now only has to wear his right brace at bedtime, and he said the clubbed foot is looking better than ever. He said "I'm not sure how this happened, but its more supple now than before". If you recall, the foot used to be extremely rigid and very hard to manipulate, which is NOT the typical clubbed foot, which also is why this process has been a little different than what they'd "typically" do for a clubbed foot. So when the doctor said "I'm not sure how this happened..." Kevin smiled, and later told me he was thinking "I know how...through lots and lots of faithful people praying him". Amen! By the grace of God, his foot has not tried to go back to the way it was before. He can have the left brace off for an hour or two a day, enough for some stretching, practice moving around the living room, and a bath. But he's so great, he doesn't mind them at all. Not once has he pulled at the as if he wanted us to take them off. He's just so used to having things on his feet. He's such a trooper.

Home Again, Home Again, Jiggidy Jig

Just a quick update.

We are back home in Massachusetts. While it was wonderful seeing family and friends, its nice to be back to our own place...own bed...own kitchen...and not to mention that Elias sleeps 10 times better in his own crib. Its been beautiful up here, low humidity and sunny skies. 

Tomorrow we're going to the orthopedist for a check up for his feet. I think they might do some x-rays. At our last check up, he said Elias could have the right brace off for 8 hours a day. We're hoping that time will increase and he'll be able to have it off for the majority of the day.

Elias had his Early Intervention evaluation Tuesday. A team came in and they went through checklists upon checklists of things he can and cannot do. Let me tell you. Having a degree in Early Childhood, I know exactly what they have to do and how it works. But as a Mom, it is SO hard watching them make it a matter of checks and dashes - checking off the things he can do, and putting a dash through things he can't. He scored at or above his age level in all areas, except gross and fine motor skills. But I have to keep reminding myself...THIS is why he's in Early Intervention. He needs help with these things! 

On another note, Elias turned 9 months Sunday. I can't believe our little muffin will be a year in just 3 months. Time is flying, and I wish it'd slow down. We're trying to make the most of every moment

loooove daddys watch

trying to figure out the buckle

mommy has a thing for silly towels...

How big is Elias...SOOO big!

Forward Motion

Whelp, its been a busy week for Elias, developmentally speaking. Just last week he finally learned how to push up into a sit, and then yesterday he army crawled forward! One of the best things about it was that Kevin was here to see it. I jokingly told Kevin that if he tried to crawl when he was gone that I'd push him over :) Just kidding...kinda...but Kevin got to see it!!!

The video below is of the second time he did it. The first time I wasn't prepared and didn't have the camera. So he just moves forward a little bit in the video, but after having all day to practice, now he moves forward much more. I guess we better break out the baby gates when we get home to Boston!

Slowly but surely

Elias has finally learned how to push himself up to sit up. Its taken Elias a little longer to do what most babies have been doing for a bit now, but I have to keep reminding myself that he has special circumstances.  

Taryn had some fun playing dress up with Elias this afternoon. He's a good sport.